Roots
by panda-tiney
Summary: Ukyo stars in a story about getting older, about the power around you and the power inside, learning who you are and that not all curses come from springs.


Prologue  
  
It had always been a little tough for her; she had almost noticed a lot of little inside jokes that had more meaning, a few excuses that made no sense, a couple of insults that were so thinly veiled she wondered how anyone could be fooled. It wasn't as if she was getting weaker, in fact she had been getting stronger and stronger since the failed wedding; she was just beginning not to care. Ranma had always meant so much to her and she didn't know why. He could've thrown her off a cliff to her death and she would still breathe for him until her heart stopped. Through all of this he would never know, never figure out she was more than a friend, more than a companion.  
  
She had always been comforted with the fact that they had been close, a feeling of success had always come over her but now . . . now she had realized that he was a lost cause. She had been there every day their relationship had become more, every second their insults breathed different meanings then their scripted words, and yet she had turned a blind eye to this. She had wanted to forget it even existed, that little voice in her had telling her it wad no use, trying to point out the signs. Yet, she now had no choice but to give up.  
  
She had seen them last night, in the back of the schoolyard, the farthest they could be, coming closer and closer and then in one fiery instant, their relationship stopped. The way they had been had totally changed to her. She thought she would have plenty of time, time to show him, love him, and guide him, but that one kiss proved more to her than any words could.  
  
The Curse By panda_tiney Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ . Rumiko Takahashi and whomever she decides to sell the rights to does. Thanks!  
  
Ukyo got up from her bed and stretched her arms out as wide as they could go and let them flop down beside her as she stalked over to the bathroom to get ready for another day. 'I can't do this' she thought to herself, panicking. If she went out there she knew someone would notice her tear drenched eyes, her red nose, sore from all the tissues she'd had to use. She had run out and started using paper towels and napkins, so her nose was even worse. Today she would have to put on a little concealer but that would only conceal her tears, not her feelings, the fact that she'd do anything for him to love her again, anything.  
  
Ukyo had sat in the back of class that day, quietly watching Ranma and Akane laugh and talk with their friends, occasionally exchanging secret side-glances and private smiles. Ukyo felt like she was intruding, like this was a private conversation that she was eavesdropping in on, but she couldn't help it; he shouldn't have been doing this, she could be so good to him, so kind and loving and caring, but he had chosen. Ukyo cringed and a few tears accidentally spilled out of her glassy eyes. Her hand went up to shield her face from anyone before they noticed, and she sprung up and ran feverishly out of the class, down the hall and out the big school doors. She just kept running, just kept crying until she reached a small trailer with wooden panels and rusted iron steps up to its green, chipping door.  
  
Ukyo didn't know what had possessed her to do so, but she stopped running, stopped breathing hard and crying out and just stared at the trailer that looked like it had belonged to one of those traveling circuses she'd read about. She walked up to the stairs slowly and looked to the ground on her left. She noticed a few flowers here and there, but it was mostly moss and grass. On the other side, she let her gaze fall upon a bronzing wheel to a trolley of some sort that seemed to be as vintage as the house. She kept walking forward until the tops of her feet hit the steel steps. She slowly stepped up one at a time and was about to knock on the cobwebbed door when she stopped herself. No one would be living here nowadays. She was fooling herself with scary images of demons and witches from television and turned her heels, hopping over all the steps to the dirt ground. She started to walk away when a voice came form the door.  
  
"I wouldn't be too quick to walk away from my destiny but that's just an old bag's opinion o' things," Ukyo turned to see a pale faced old women with the prettiest skin she ever seen. It was rosy with not one wrinkle and the women came across as old enough to have many! The lady was dressed in a red and purple dress down to her pointy-toed shoes with gold rims and a shawl of the deepest blue she'd ever seen, it was almost effervescent like her skin. Everything about the women let out a certain glow that both scared and intrigued Ukyo.  
  
"Well, are ya just gonna stand there or are ye to come in?"  
  
Ukyo nodded and the women smiled. Ukyo noticed her accent seemed to be changing with every word she spoke but she decided maybe that was just another accent she had never heard before. She walked quickly up the steps and into the house.  
  
As she passed through the door, there was a loud rush of wind and Ukyo's hair fell back. The scents of the house went with the wind and crowded Ukyo's nose so she almost couldn't breathe but there were many she didn't mind giving up breathing to smell. She smelt raspberry, jasmine, vanilla, tea leaves, herbs and some scents she couldn't even pinpoint as she had never smelt them before.  
  
"Wow." Ukyo finally let out. The women smiled again and sat down at a table in the center of the small home. Everything in the house was decorated, head to toe. There were draperies over every wall and the carpets were just as well laid. The tables and chairs were decorated with thinner, silkier tapestries that you could feel just by looking at them and everything; every single item was drenched in rich, vivid color.  
  
The designs on each were something Ukyo had never seen before, she was so unused to so much blue and gold and red. Moreover, the purples, greens and oranges simply sprung out of fabric. The table's sheet was the prettiest by far. It had a beautiful bird dripping in oranges, reds and yellows, almost flying up through its own flames. Ukyo sat across from the lady at the table and had another good look at her.  
  
"Who are you?" Ukyo asked suspiciously. Truly, no normal person could enhance so much life into inanimate objects. Of course, she was living in Nermia.  
  
The lady smirked, "You should know who I am, we're family. We all must stick together, should we not?" Ukyo tilted her head in confusion and the women laughed, a full, hearty, musical laugh.  
  
".What?" Ukyo asked confused more than ever.  
  
"Don't worry child, you have been left out of too much in your life. You are blank in the field of your past and have been stupefied by things you should be accustomed to. You are not just another girl you know." The women smiled again.  
  
Ukyo was starting to become frustrated, like everyone was laughing about a joke she did not get. "What are you talking about lady, if you're gonna keep talking in riddles then I'll be going!" Ukyo got up to leave and the women raised her hand.  
  
"Please! Do not go. I have been unfair to you, but I shall let you know all you want in time. For now, let us sit and talk." The women calmly suggested.  
  
Ukyo didn't know why, but this comforted her, "All right, but the minute you start lying to me I'll know it and I'll leave!"  
  
The women just nodded and Ukyo sat back down.  
  
"So what did you want to talk about?" Ukyo asked.  
  
"How about we start at why you're running through the forest and rousing many creatures. Not all are happy with such a rude awakening." The women somehow said everything calmly, and this was no exception.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just having a bad day, that's all." Ukyo said slowly as she turned away from the women in fear of staring into her piercing eyes and bursting into tears.  
  
"Seems like you've been having a bad life." The women said as she smiled a nurturing smile, and Ukyo had to admit the lady was weird but likeable, almost motherly.  
  
"You could say that." Ukyo stared out the window, past the women and into the woods. The sky was getting darker and Ukyo decided she had better leave soon.  
  
"Well, what if I told you it's not just ordinary painstaking over you have for . . . Ranma?" The women stated unsure of the name of her burden. "What if I told you it wasn't mere coincidence that you two met, that the reason he and his deserted you those many years ago was, in fact, your fault?"  
  
"How the hell did you know his name?" Ukyo asked angrily, getting up and throwing down the chair. It hit the floor softly, the sound muffled by the thick carpet. Her voice seemed to echo and Ukyo finally took a good look at the size of the inside of the trailer, the small, old trailer. The room had to be two times as thick and three or four times as long! Ukyo's defenses went up and she tried to look for the door she had entered from, but it was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Please, calm down." The women, who did look terribly young for what Ukyo thought her age to be said, calmer than ever.  
  
"I'm not gonna calm down until you let me the hell outta here. What the hell are you?" Ukyo screamed becoming more and more panic stricken. She could break through the window, but it seemed too small. 'Why did I ever even come in here,' she asked herself.  
  
"Quiet! You are quite lucky us gypsies must stick together or your poor homage would get you out there with the wolves, among other creatures!" The women for once did not sound as stable and breathed hard after screaming for the first time in what might be years.  
  
Ukyo began to swivel around and reach back for her spatula but she found it was not there and was not even in her own clothes. She was wearing a dress similar to the lady's. This one had scarlet and blue splashed across it and looked to be from the west long ago. Ukyo started to fret again then stopped. Her hair flew past her in spurts then fell down at her sides. She looked up at the stern face of the old women.  
  
"What did you say about me?" Ukyo questioned, thousands of things running through her head at once.  
  
"I said that we gypsies must stick together and I must say, you really aren't what I expected! I had a vision I'd have to teach another of their power, but I never expected someone like you." The women stated, sounding totally astonished.  
  
"Someone like . . . me?" Ukyo asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes! Someone with a large curse thrust upon them already. And a love curse at that! Someone very powerful put this burden on you." The women explained.  
  
Ukyo wanted to leave, wanted to jump up and scream but couldn't. Something held her back; something inside her that said leaving would make her lose something very special. That she'd miss out on something very secret and useful, her destiny.  
  
A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Questions? Comments? If I messed up just tell me and I'll rewrite! Review or I might forget to write the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon! 


End file.
